Rating: 
Summary: Wizard's First Rule
Review: I was really surprised by the all of the nasty reviews that some of Terry Goodkind's books have recieved. I just finished this book and absolutely loved it! While laid up, I'm also going through Jordan's WoT stuff too so I can probably make a couple of good comparisons. 1) The whole relationship between Richard and Kahlan was one of those things that kept me reading this story. It didn't seem to be the run of the mill story where you know that they are going to get together. Their relationship seemed doomed from the start. 2) Unlike Rand al Thor, Richard does not seem to constantly be screaming into the sky and is willing to suck it up and accept what cards are dealt to him. 3)There is a definite sense of humor that doesn't distract from the story. The lighter moments were spaced enough to be enjoyable without taking away from the sense of urgency on the quest. The fact that both series seem be outpacing three trilogies does make me wonder about quality of the writing as you near book 8. The criticism's about copying plot devices abound in fantasy settings (how different are basic plots in Conan stories vs. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser?). Terry Goodkind is able to spin his tale and make you forget about the fact that are sitting in a chair rather than standing in a forest in the Westland. If you find that happening (and I do!), then he has done an admirable job.
Rating:
Summary: truth
Review: This was a very good book that kept me guessing and hoping.....
Rating:
Summary: Wow.
Review: I was scaning through the Fantasy section one day and picked up this book. I read the first hundred pages, got up with a smile on my face, and walked to the register. I set the book down and the man at the counter began telling me how great this book was. So I gave him the 10 bucks and went home geting ready to read a great book. I picked up where I left off, and didn't stop until I finished the book.This book took me through an earthquake of emotions as I slowly read the book. I couldn't take my eyes off the pages and I inched my way through. This book griped me, I simply couldn't stop reading this book. The next day, I went back to the store and bought the rest of the series. I have grown to love this series and I would give it to a friend to read without a second thought. Read this book, and I bet you'll like it, without a doubt.
Rating: 
Summary: i really liked goodkind's work, until...
Review: i read the first four sword of truth books, and enjoyed them tremendously. I was wrapped up in the characters, Kahlan is great, and i picture Richard as a Kevin Sorbo looking dude, after finishing the fourth book, while waiting on the fifth, i started the Wheel of Time and OH MY GOD!!!!!! I don't know how Terry Goodkind publishes this stuff!!!!!! Some of it is exact Plagiarism!! Some of the focus on Jordan's 2nd book happens in the Stone of Tear --- Goodkind's 2nd book is titled STONE OF TEARS Jordan has a sul'dam named Renna Goodkind has a Mord-sith named Denna Sul'dam are women who lead magic channeling people around on leashes Guess what mord sith do? that's right THE SAME THING these are just a couple of things that come to mind immediately, There is much much more!!!! and in case you don't know, as far as timing goes Jordan beat Goodkind to the punch by several years, so enjoy the Sword of Truth, just try not to think about the wheel turning and ages coming to pass, and things like that
Rating: 
Summary: Strangly intrigueing for such a bad book.
Review: The best thing I can say about this series is that I somehow managed to read the first three and a half books. Goodkind has consiterable potential as a writter, he just needs to start telling stories to tell stories instead of looking for a platform to write about whatever social ideas are bothering him at the time. Not to say that putting social ideas into books is a bad thing, but a truly good author can do this without the ideas taking over the story(Read Tolken and you will see this done flawlessly). Goodkind is writing a series with no visable goal. This series has the potential to turn out like Modesitt's recluse series, a never ending series of independant books that has no real purpose other that to keep the writer busy. Fortunatly Modessitt has other projects besides reculse that are much better. This series has some promising characters, but no real character devolopment. There is no real time spent making the characters grow or change. The characters run around into events that are just too random, and seem to get out of them without anything of real importance being changed. The truely interesting part of any story is watching how the characters are changed and learn from the events that they encounter. This book does not do this in a convincing manner. This book is gruesome, with too many torture, and violent sex scenes. The only explanation for this is that the writer thinks that this will help sell books, (Looking at his sales he is probalbly right) because the plot would go along just fine without 90% of this. Goodkind needs to start over with another series. It is truely a shame that such a talented writer is spending so much time writing a series that almost good. If he could just add a story with some broader scope to his intrest in writing about ideas, he could truly be something.
Rating:
Summary: Major Disappointment
Review: As a fan of Multi Volume Fantasy Literature, I find it almost impossible to pass up a series which looks as promising as this one looked. The Sword of Truth series is now up to book 6, so I decided to get the first 5 books and try to catch up while I await the next installment of the Martin Fire and Ice series. The Sword of Truth is a weak series when compared to books like the Martin Series, Tolkien, The Dragonlance Saga, and others. The worst thing about this is the fact that much of the ideas are simply re-hashed. The sword sounds much like the Sword of Shanarra and the relationship between Richard Cypher and his grandfather reminds me very much of the David Eddings Belgariad Series. Don't get me wrong, Goodkind has some good ideas. I love the Confessors and the idea behind them. I also like some of the little details like the magic Sand and the Mord-Sith. I should warn you the Mord Sith are a grotesquely erotic bunch of Dominatrix's unique in fantasy literature (at least in all the novels I've read). However, these little gems are few and far between. To make things worse, Goodkind will exploit the drama of Richard's relationship to the Mother Confessor until you want to choke the author, the characters or both! If you are looking for a good series, I would recommend the Dragonlance Sage, Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, Raymond Feist, David Eddings or even Terry Brooks' Original Sword of Shanarra series. Save your money and skip this one.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: From page 1, I was sucked into Goodkind's fantasy world and could not bring myself to put the book down. Full of breathtaking scenes, gripping action, numerous twists, and a traditional good versus evil plot, this is a well crafted fantasy novel. Throughout the adventure, Goodkind gives just enough information to keep the reader satisfied, yet not enough--to make the story a real page turner. Goodkind has written the book so well, that I felt at times like I was in the position of the characters. What they saw, I saw...What they felt...I felt too. Strange as it is, I feel as though the story and characters are now a part of my life. I felt like I was right there in the middle of the action throughout the entire adventure and made friends along the way. ...A very memorable book that I will definitely be reading again.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Fantasy Novels written
Review: This was the first fantasy novel I read that was more than 200 pages long. I read it when I was 16 years old (now I'm 21) and have read it 4 times since then and countless other fantasy and non-fantasy books. The author, Terry Goodkind, entraps you in the story so well that sometimes you might not even notice or remember that you are even reading a fantasy novel. The character development is so great in this series that by the time you get to the 2nd and 3rd books in the series you can feel what the characters are feeling. And almost anticipate what they will do next, except for an old wizard who will never cease to shock, amaze, and confuse you. This story has swords, dragons, the lost art of magic, love, hate, vast lands, monsters, and most importantly a brilliant author behind it all whose writing abilities put you right next to the characters in the story. I highly recommend this book, and the whole series, you will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Great! Loved it!
Review: This book was great! I couldn't put it down. I don't believe how many bad reviews this great book has recieved! Once I got reading it, I was hooked. I couldn't put it down even once! I read it so much, that my friends were tired of seeing it, and hearing about it. o.O The creativity has given me great thoughts, and wisdom of outstanding provability into my future. My writings have also changed from reading this book. I REALLY suggest you get this book!
Rating:
Summary: Had to stop reading it.
Review: The style of writing Goodkind employs allowed me to make quick progress through what I consider to be an interesting plot. However, I ended up throwing the book away because it is simply too gruesome, brutal and cruel. This book is very explicit, and what it doesn't spell out for you, your mind will, leaving you to shudder later as the images resurface. It's a shame, had it not embraced and dwelled on such terrible images I would have really enjoyed it.
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